Tyre sitting unevenly: What to do at the road side?

[pkeenan]

When refitting a tyre (or fitting a new one), I sometimes find it extremely difficult to get the bead to sit properly in the rim. It'll be fine most of the way around the rim, but there may be a patch where the bead wall is too far down in the rim.

It's happened on a few occasions and, having previously worked in a bike shop for a while, I know it's not uncommon and I've learned a few remedies. I've also seen other threads about it on this forum and others.

So my question is not how people have handled this at home or in the workshop, but at the side of the road? I ask this because I wrestled with a tyre for the best part of an hour last night, used soapy liquid and inflated to a high psi to get it in. It's not 100% right, I plan to get back to it again tonight once my thumbs have recovered a bit (!), but I'm confident I can sort it with some more effort (having done so in the past).

But I'm aware that I don't think I could do so at the road side: I don't usually have soapy water to hand, and although my Topeak Road Morph is great at getting things up to high psi, I think it would be difficult to get enough in to pop the bead into place.

Does anybody have any tips for how they handle this out and about in the real world?

 

[gazza1286]

Manipulation of the rim bead is best done when the tyre is pumped up to less than 50% of the final pressure. Once happy - fully inflate. Even by the roadside with a co2 cannister this could be done - although I've not had to do this myself.

 

[T4tomo]

if your canister has a control valve its easy, pop some gas in, then bounce the wheel around a bit and check the bead is even on the rim and then blast it upto full pressure.

although tbh as long as the bead isn't bulging off the rim, then its good enough to get you home where you can fart about with it to your hearts content post ride. You should replace the co2 with proper air anyway.

 

[Vantage]

What canister? The op said he used a Topeak Road Morph which last time I looked, was an air pump
As long as you're not too far from home, the tyre will sit there safely till you get back. It's only a temporary fix till then so I wouldn't worry too much about seating the tyre properly if it's being awkward.
I had a set of tyres like this once, Vittoria Randonneurs and eventually got sick of fighting them so binned them for something better.

 

[pkeenan]

I've never used canisters but am open to doing so. Still dubious as to how effective it will be without some sort of lubricant on the rim/bead, but I guess one just has to try these things.

 

[Ajax Bay]

When refitting a tyre (or fitting a new one), I sometimes find it extremely difficult to get the bead to sit properly in the rim. It'll be fine most of the way around the rim, but there may be a patch where the bead wall is too far down in the rim.
It's happened on a few occasions and, having previously worked in a bike shop for a while, I know it's not uncommon and I've learned a few remedies.

What are the remedies which you say you've "learned"? Share them; then we know what you know.
What sort of tyres are we/you talking about (ie width) and what final pressure (psi)? Assume this is with an inner.
What are the rims? Is their inner rim width appropriate for the tyre (width)?
How can your thumbs help? Once the tyre is on, the internal force from the inflated inner tube will force the tyre bead to its correct position on the rim.
Pump it up a bit; bounce it all round, check bead is seated, and pump it up to desired pressure.

 

[T4tomo]

What canister? The op said he used a Topeak Road Morph which last time I looked, was an air pump
.

read post #2

 

[andrew_s]

You can get special tools for those cases where your thumbs or the internal force from a normal air pressure aren't enough.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/park-tool-tyre-seater/
Nothing a big saddle bag won't cope with

I'd just put up with it until I got home and had access to soapy water and a track pump

 

[Ajax Bay]

read post #2

Read post #1 (not beaten to it by @Vantage)

 

[Vantage]

read post #2

Read post #1

 

[Kajjal]

This is the easiest way and unless you have deep high rims and tight tyres you won't even need tyre levers. The straps are not needed.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4

 

[Ajax Bay]

@Kajjal
OP gets the tyres on but then can't get them to seat - a bit of the bead stays in the well 'below' the rim. The video has no relevance (imo).

 

[Kajjal]

@Kajjal
OP gets the tyres on but then can't get them to seat - a bit of the bead stays in the well 'below' the rim. The video has no relevance (imo).

I had the very same thing, tyre went on but when you pumped it up it did not seat properly. Followed the linked video without the straps and it goes on fine every time. It seems to put the tyre on more evenly as you are only using hand pressure and not forcing it on with a lever which I am guessing can jam it on .

 

[pkeenan]

Thanks for all the responses so far. It's clear not everyone is quite sure exactly what I'm describing, apologies - I'll see if I can get a photo which may help.

What are the remedies which you say you've "learned"? Share them; then we know what you know.
What sort of tyres are we/you talking about (ie width) and what final pressure (psi)? Assume this is with an inner.
What are the rims? Is their inner rim width appropriate for the tyre (width)?
How can your thumbs help? Once the tyre is on, the internal force from the inflated inner tube will force the tyre bead to its correct position on the rim.
Pump it up a bit; bounce it all round, check bead is seated, and pump it up to desired pressure.

Well, the rims are Stans Grails, the tyres are Bontrager AW1 (28c), and yes it's with an inner. I'm bringing them up to around 100psi (wouldn't ride it with that high a psi - be assured!). But it's not exclusive to this bike, it has happened on my Thorn (Schwalbe Marathon Supremes and Rigida Andra 30 rims). It's also not happened with the same tyre/rims combinations, so it seems hit and miss when this sort of thing is going to strike.

The 'remedies' are quite well known; bit of soapy water or something similar, pump up to high psi quickly to let it pop in. But also one of the mechanics I used to work with used to literally wrestle it into place with his hands - obviously he's well practiced and I'm not! I am also aware of the Park Tools seating tool linked above, but definitely not shedding 50 quid on something I know I can do without! (Also, again, that's a solution for a workshop - I would definitely not take this out on a ride, which is the whole point of this thread!)

In any case it seems the common result is to get it as good as possible just to get home, then to try and sort it properly, which is what I've done previously. Thanks again all!

 

[Mr. Cow]

Tend to go for tyres without the metallic wire beading, makes it so much easier to put on. Still sometimes find i have too much tyre below the rim when you come to the final bit, but can still manage to fold it over without using tyre levers.

Not sure if there's any pros/cons to wire beaded tyres.. someone on here will know but they certainly seem a lot easier to get on/off (especially in the winter when your hands are like lumps of ice)